XTOL - D76 - tonality?

[Fotohuis]

The sudden death syndrome was actually introduced in 1995 for the 1 ltr. Xtol package when they had a small leakage in sealing.
Although for all Ascorbic Acid type developers they have a limited life span. You can better use it up before 6 months because the activity is going to be less after 4-6 months in a regular storage.

This is Xtol after 10 months and after passing a coffee filter, still working but not how it should be:

 

[Tijmendal]

Robert,

Would you happen to know a place where I can look up the property values of tapwater in certain cities (specifically Leiden)? I've wanted to try out Xtol for a long time now, but keep hearing these 'horror' stories and am a little concerned, especially because I probably won't be able to use up a whole gallon of the stuff in half a year.
With D-76 (which I use now) I mix it in two batches, where I just use kitchen scales to weigh half of the powder and then I keep the remainder in a vacuum sealed packaging till I'm ready to use that. Would that work with Xtol?

 

[Fotohuis]

You can not mix any partial amount of any powder developer because it is impossible to mix all ingredients in the same way. So you have to use up the whole package or make the developer yourself from scratch chemicals.

After mixing up and making the stock solution it is of course possible to split the 5 litr. up to 2x 2,5 ltr. glass bottles or 5x 1 ltr. PET bottles which you can squeeze or use Tetenal Protectan gas to prolong your stock solution.

5 ltr. Xtol is pretty cheap and the material is not environmental unfriendly so you can dump it without any hesitation in the tube.
Alternative the (almost) same Fomadon Excel W27 which is delivered in a 1 ltr. packing.

In Holland you can look up any water tap point and delivery in a half yearly preview in all chemical compounds found and which is officially published on the internet of any water delivery station/manufacturer involved. The area where I live: Ravenstein/Oss , Brabant Water in Macharen water station. Hard water with a lot of Calcium Salts but not so many Iron or Mangane. So I am using a Brita (TM) filter system for my dark room water. After cooking the amount of oxygen has also gone to a minimum.
Very good water I can make on a R.O. (Reverse Osmose) system (Barnstead) MilliQ (and without any organic compounds due to a UV light unit) on my work. But for regular use not necessary.

 

[SyPat]

(...) Many feel that D76 gives Tri-X a better "classic look" than Xtol does. I have a feeling that it is really that D76 gives a slightly slower true speed to Tri-X, which moves the mid-tones down the slope a bit. IMHO, that is why some say D76 gives somewhat "gutsier" midtones than Xtol does. (...)

The characteristic curve of D76/ID11 is a bit more S-shaped than XTol (at least with classical films). I agree on the fact that XTol gives more speed (about 1/3 of stop), but it's not the longer toe in D76 that will give "gutsier" mid-tones.
I my opinion, the straight curve of Xtol gives more contrast (as compared to D76) in Zone I-IV: as a result, the perception of Zone V and higher is flatter (the perception of contrast is allways relative).
Personally I never liked XTol very much, grain is fine, sharpness very good (etc.), but the final print is somewhat cold and impersonal to my eyes.